Fans vs. VAR: Norway's fight for football's future

Mark OgdenSep 12, 2024, 03:24 PM ET

OSLO, Norway -- "You're here to talk about VAR?," Mykle, a pint of lager in one hand and jabbing his finger with the other, said. "It's all bulls---: nobody wants it here."

This is Norway, ranked the seventh-happiest country in the world earlier this year by the World Population Review, and usually a place where life occurs in relative serenity. But VAR (Video Assistant Referee) has given many Norwegians something to get angry about. So angry, in fact, that they have taken to disrupting professional football games by throwing objects onto the pitch in what have become almost weekly protests against VAR.

Matchdays have become a scene in which fans throw fishcakes, champagne corks and croissants onto the pitch against what they perceive to be the invasive technology of VAR. Why? Because a growing number of Norwegian football supporters -- along with players and executives -- want Norway to scrap VAR and, in doing so, become the first country in the world to ditch the controversial system.

Martin's Pub in Lillestrom, Norway -- a 10-minute train ride from the capital, Oslo -- is a hive of activity on Storgata, the town's otherwise sleepy main street. It's Sunday lunchtime and the shops are closed; joggers and dog walkers are the only people around apart from the yellow-shirted Lillestrom SK supporters who have gathered at Martin's ahead of the team's Eliteserien game against Tromso.

Mykle, a card-carrying member of the Lillestrom supporters' club, is holding court as ESPN chats to Morten Gallasen and Hogner Trym, a pair of Lillestrom fans and podcasters, who have become the voice of the fans' opposition to VAR through their group, Harde Mottak ("Hard Reception"). They hand out stickers and a car air freshener in Lillestrom colors, both with 'F--- VAR' and the image of a supporter making offensive hand gestures. Some fans wear T-shirts bearing the same message.

Remember those high-profile incidents that wouldn't have happened without VAR? Take the failure to award a goal at the 2010 World Cup when Frank Lampard's shot for England hit the bar and dropped behind the goal line in defeat to Germany, or the inability of the officials to spot Thierry Henry's goal-creating handball in a World Cup playoff for France against the Republic of Ireland in 2009? VAR was supposed to eradicate those controversies and make the game fairer when it was introduced in 2017, following several years of trials.

VAR has provided a safety net to catch those game-changing mistakes, but for those opposed to the technology, that's beside the point. They despise the lengthy delays for decisions to be made, often by officials in windowless rooms many miles from the stadium, and hate the fear of celebrating a goal because the inevitable VAR check either delays their joy or kills it completely after finding a reason to disallow the goal. Minuscule offside calls, confusing handball decisions, referees urged to review their decisions by their remote VAR assistants -- it all combines to create vocal, and vehement, opposition from fans.

Australia's A-League became the first professional league to use VAR, in April 2017, followed by MLS in the United States in August that year. Gradually, over the intervening years, virtually every major league and competition in world football has adopted VAR. Yet rather than ending controversy, VAR has instead become a lightning rod for even greater anger and disenchantment on and off the pitch.

Last season in the Premier League, the referees' body Premier League Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) admitted "significant human error" when referee Simon Hooper wrongly ruled out a Luis Diaz goal for offside when Liverpool went to Tottenham. Liverpool ultimately lost 2-1 that day, but the Diaz decision was pivotal: the score was tied 0-0 when Diaz thought he'd given the Reds the lead, but video assistant referee Darren England failed to inform the official that Diaz had actually been onside.

During Euro 2024, two separate handball decisions involving VAR also led to controversy. A penalty was given against Denmark's Joachim Andersen during the round-of-16 defeat against Germany after referee Michael Oliver had reviewed the incident by VAR, but in Germany's quarterfinal against Spain, another handball by Marc Cucurella was not reviewed, despite the Spain defender's left hand blocking a goalbound shot.

Fans and players seem to be enraged by VAR on a weekly basis, yet nowhere has seen supporter apathy and unrest become as visible and organized as Norway, which may yet turn out to be the first country in the world to abolish VAR.

The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) has reacted to recent protests by announcing a review and consultation period with clubs and supporters -- it is due to deliver its findings in November -- and the outcome could be the scrapping of VAR in Norway and the setting of a precedent that could have wide-reaching consequences for VAR throughout world football.

"If you look at Norwegian history with making protests, we tend to just accept things for what they are and believe in our leaders," Trym told ESPN. "We're not French. We don't go out and demonstrate and protest or set cars on fire and stuff like that. We don't really do that, but when it comes to VAR, I think people in Norway are willing to go really far to stop it.

"It's not [about] being anti-technology; it's being pro-passion and trying to get rid of something that sort of f---s your passion. It's a nightmare for any football fan."

Norway introduced VAR at the start of the 2023 Eliteserien season, but from the outset, it was unpopular. There has not been one standout incident to trigger the protests, just a sense that VAR was an unwanted intrusion in the Norwegian game.

"Ever since VAR was introduced in Norway, there has been a fair bit of resistance among supporters," Ole Hansen, a reporter with Norwegian media outlet Nettavisen, told ESPN. "It was a big story already in the first season, but this season the attention has grown because of the ongoing protests from supporters and the means of action they have used.

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"In 2023 there were minor protests, banners, chants and such, but this season there have been more radical means like throwing fishcakes, tennis balls, pastry and other things on the pitch.

"In some games, supporters have also chosen to leave the stadium in the middle of matches to take a stand against VAR," Ole Hansen continued. "The biggest story so far is the match between Rosenborg and Lillestrom in July. Because of protests from both clubs' supporter groups, throwing fishcakes on the pitch, the referee chose to abandon the game."

The fishcake incident at Rosenborg elevated the Norwegian VAR protests from a national issue to a global story. It was the first time a game had ever been abandoned in Norway because of supporter unrest, but the fishcakes were supposed to create an altogether different outcome.

"At Lillestrom, we were the first club to protest against VAR and the Rosenborg fans had been slow to get involved in the movement," Lillestrom fan Gallasen said. "So we had banners saying "What are you going to do?" for the 'fishcake' game.

"So when the Rosenborg fans started to throw fishcakes onto the pitch, it was funny. After it happened, their fans told us that because their stadium is close to the sea and always surrounded by seagulls, the idea was to throw so many fishcakes onto the pitch that a flock of seagulls would arrive and go crazy and force the game to be delayed. It didn't quite work out like that, but the impact turned out to be pretty big."

Although the Lillestrom were the first club to actively voice their opposition to VAR last year -- their fans reacted to a stoppage-time penalty winner at Rosenborg last season by sitting down and refusing to celebrate because the spot-kick had been awarded by VAR -- supporters from across the country, at a variety of clubs, have joined the campaign.

At the Oslo derby between Valerenga and Lyn, fans were buying T-shirts bearing the slogan "VAR: It's not here to stay." Lyn fans had disrupted a previous game by throwing champagne corks onto the pitch to reflect their reputation as being from the affluent western district of the capital. Both clubs are in Norway's second tier, which doesn't use VAR, but the opposition to the technology runs deep.

Brann Bergen fans used a remote-controlled car with a pyrotechnic flare attached to halt a game last month, while Bodo/Glimt fans threw fish balls on the pitch to disrupt their game against Haugesund, prompting the club's general manager, Frode Thomassen, to ban nine supporters for 30 games because of their involvement. "To continue with such childish streaks is to kill football," Thomassen told TV2. "It's not about football, not about VAR. I find it incredibly sad and boring."

As Thomassen's comments suggest, the anti-VAR protests don't have universal support. When the Rosenborg-Lillestrom game was abandoned -- it was eventually restaged behind closed doors last month -- there was upset among fans who had seen just 32 minutes of football before the game was called off.

"Regular people, those who maybe watch a few games in a season, get their experience ruined," Nettavisen journalist Hansen said. "After the Rosenborg-Lillestrom match, there were crying children outside the stadium. Rosenborg is a bit like Norway's Manchester United, they have supporters from all over the land, and many had travelled long distances for the game."

However, surveys conducted by Norwegian media hint at a widespread dissatisfaction with VAR among players. A poll by Aftenbladet, a newspaper from the western port city of Stavanger, found that only one member of the Viking Stavanger squad was satisfied with VAR, while Romerikes Blad canvassed the Lillestrom squad and again found just one player in favor of VAR. In May, the national Norwegian newspaper NISO found that only one in four Eliteserien players supported VAR.

"I would like to see [VAR] go, but I don't think the NFF will do it," Tromso midfielder Runar Norheim told ESPN. "There's no fun with VAR. You can't celebrate a goal spontaneously and that's the worst part of it."

Valerenga, traditionally Norway's best-supported team, sit top of the second division and are on course to be promoted back to Eliteserien after a one-year absence this season. Team captain Christian Borchgrevnik hopes VAR is scrapped in time for the club's top-flight return.

"Without doubt, we would like to remove it from Norwegian football," Borchgrevnik told ESPN. "For me, it's killing the game.

"I think our fans at Valerenga, and the Norwegian fans as well, they have a big pride in the old game and the feelings of it. For them and for me as well, VAR is a big opponent of all of that."

What happens next? And how likely is Norway to become the first country in the world to abandon VAR?

When the Wolverhampton Wanderers forced a vote to scrap VAR in the Premier League at the end of last season, their motion was defeated by 19 votes to 1 and within the hierarchy of the English top-flight, there is little appetite to change VAR, only to support it.

"Before VAR, 82% of the decisions made were deemed to be correct," Tony Scholes, the Premier League's chief football officer, said last January. "In the season so far, that figure is 96%."

Last month, Howard Webb, the Head of PGMOL, said it was unrealistic to expect VAR to be universally popular. "Some of the criticism we get around VAR is simply because people don't like the final outcome," Webb said. "I think they expected when this thing came in to always agree with the final outcome. That's simply not possible -- that's not a position we can ever get to."

The landscape is different in Norway, however, with the movement against VAR much more organized and vociferous in an attempt to remove it from the Norwegian game. It may not come to that, of course, but the NFF is now committed to hearing the opinions of clubs, players and fans, even if the organization is against the methods that have led to the launching of a review.

"At present, a committee has been established that includes representatives from various groups, including supporters, to thoroughly review all aspects of VAR in Norway," a NFF spokesperson told ESPN. "The work of this group will provide a solid foundation for a meaningful and informed debate on the issue within the country.

"There are, of course, many opinions about football and VAR, and some supporters have expressed their views in ways that we cannot accept on our football pitches.

"We have encouraged them to use the proper channels to ensure a constructive and informed debate on the subject," the spokesperson continued. "I believe it is now important for the committee to do its work, and the NFF will await their report, which will be delivered on Nov. 18, so that we have an objective basis for decision-making and the view of the top clubs. We therefore don't want to comment on this matter any further at this point."

It will require a majority of clubs among the 32 teams in Norway's top two divisions to abolish VAR and force the NFF to consider scrapping it, though the vote will be advisory rather than binding, enabling the NFF to retain VAR even if a majority vote against it.

Because Norwegian club boards are made up of directors put in place by the votes of supporters, the voice of the fans will be heard in a manner that would be impossible in many other leagues, including the Premier League. In Norway, fans have the power to hold their representatives accountable, but it remains to be seen how many fan groups would choose to vote out directors if they vote against their wishes on VAR.

Svein Graff is the administrative director at Valerenga and he has told ESPN that his club will back the calls for VAR to be scrapped in Norway.

"We have an annual meeting resolution in the club to work to abolish VAR in Norwegian football," Graff said. "Together with other clubs with the same annual meeting resolution, we are working with the NFF to clarify why VAR should be abolished.

"The perpetual VAR interruptions are devastating for the match experience, something Norwegian supporters have emphasized in numerous protests. Far too much time is spent studying millimeter deviations, and often the decisions do not seem more convincing after the VAR verdict; sometimes, it's quite the opposite."

Graff is clear that despite Valerenga initially voting for VAR to be introduced last season, his club were wrong to do so and that the fans were right to voice their opposition.

"In autumn 2021, the board of the NFF decided that VAR should be introduced in the Eliteserien," Graff said. "The clubs became involved in the process through our organization, Norsk Toppfotball (NTF). Valerenga voted at the time to introduce VAR, like the other top clubs, apart from Lillestrom Sportsklubb. The supporters were early on to warn that Norwegian VAR would become a cheap version that would not work satisfactorily. After a half-played season, we see that they were right. We were wrong.

"Without supporters, football has little value and we expect VAR to be abolished in Norwegian football next season."

Mark Clattenburg, former Premier League referee who worked as Nottingham Forest's referee analyst last season, believes that the outcome of the consultation in Norway could impact similar leagues, but not the major European leagues.

"There are pros and cons," Clattenburg told ESPN. "Sweden voted not to use VAR and the Norwegian FA is now consulting various groups about VAR, but leagues of that size need to consider the financial side of VAR and cost compared to the benefit. The consequences of refereeing decisions in the Premier League or Serie A, for example, would be much greater than those in Norway due to the financial strength of the leagues, so one issue will be whether deploying VAR is cost effective."

"Ultimately, if Norway votes to get rid of VAR, it won't have a domino effect on the biggest leagues. There is simply too much at stake financially for those leagues to abandon it. But for smaller nations, the negatives might outweigh the benefits, certainly from a financial perspective."

Time will tell as to how this battle plays out. Among supporters, there is concern that the NFF will allow VAR to be scrapped because of a perception that the association does not want to antagonize FIFA and risk Norway being overlooked for senior positions or the hosting of future tournaments. There is also a feeling that the national body is merely paying lip service. A lingering lack of trust in the NFF is why Valerenga fans disrupted a recent game by throwing croissants and pastries onto the pitch.

"It is what we call the 'stiff lips,'" Sebastian Hytten, leader of Valerenga's Klanen fan group, told ESPN. "The NFF guys eat their croissants and drink their coffee every time they create a new working group.

"This is now the fourth or fifth time they are going to investigate how to use VAR, so more time for coffee and pastries."

With the consultation due to report findings in November and the NFF committed to a final decision on VAR before March 2025, the future of football is in Norwegian hands. The football world will be watching.